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    NooB Monday! - (April 29, 2019) Entrepreneur

    April 29, 2019

    NooB Monday! - (April 29, 2019) Entrepreneur

    NooB Monday! - (April 29, 2019)

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 06:15 AM PDT

    If you don't have enough comment karma here's where we can help.

    Everyone starts somewhere and to post in /r/Entrepreneur this is the best place. Subscribers please understand these are new posters and not familiar with our sub. Newcomers welcome! Be sure to vote on things that help you. Search the sub a bit before you post. The answers may already be here.

    Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    we opened today and one of our clients destroyed our morales

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 03:48 AM PDT

    so we started a new business (a coworking space) in our city, and it's the first one in our city (a major city), and like, the 5th in our country.

    so we had a free beta week for some people to try the place, comes this client that applied for it, and he started criticizing every possible thing he can think of, the internet (the best we can get while staying afloat), the layout, the decoration, the access control system, the location (literally center of the city near every possible transportation), the prices, the privacy of the desks, and every possible thing, he kept going like for like an hour, and to be honest, half of what he said was right but well beyond our budget and prices and kept comparing us to wework (even though we charge 10%-15% of wework prices, because this is the market).

    and left saying that our space was underwhelming and way below his expectation.

    at the end of the day, he had a lot of valid points that we will work on, but I just can't yet understand how to handle such demoralization, should I expect many people like him (I mean he was the only one who said those things, many other people adored the place), and I know it's stupid, but out of all the positive feedback, I can only remember this negative one, it doesn't help that between the 10 people we went for with beta, no one showed up after the reception day.

    submitted by /u/assassinateur
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    How I Made 30K Going The Extra Mile (Finding Clients)

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 10:04 AM PDT

    Hey Redditors,

    ​

    Joe here with another post here. I want this post to be different from the same old post of people spamming their websites or blogs. My field is digital marketing and I've noticed in 2019 that its a huge trend. I feel everyone in their mothers is a social media marketer or can do web design via WordPress. The only thing I ask is you actually put in the work to be great. Don't bullshit people. This post is for the freelancers, digital marketing grinders, and anyone else that sees fit. You can basically adapt this method on any type of work that you do. Its called going the extra mile.

    ​

    (Proof that this method works, and for those that want proof - Not worried about profit yet, still growing hard)

    JAN: https://gyazo.com/ec79fde28ea43744694d4173b2dd47af (7K)

    FEB: https://gyazo.com/9f40c8151844dace2abb8c45aa15a632 (10K)

    MAR: https://gyazo.com/35edd4ca4ad1a0cab76c92cb7790cfaf (12K)

    APR: Waiting on Statement

    ​

    Lately, I've been messing around with my pricing and talking with other digital marketing agencies and what they charge. $3000-$6000 a website (WordPress), $750-$2000 SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and $500-$2000 for social media marketing. I've talked with them on strategies on how they find their clients and I hear the same old answer: emailing businesses and cold calling.

    ​

    I even looked up guru courses and its the same crap. Rinse and repeat. "Use this lead finder I have an email businesses like this, use this email template, cold call" Now I won't lie. Down the road, I'll probably make my own course, but for the time being, I plan on giving as much information as possible. -- Now I learned this method back in my teen years when my friend would ask out tons of girls and finally, someone would say yes. Same with business. The more businesses you cold call and email you will eventually get someone that says yes let's have a meeting. As this is a good tactic and helped me somewhat grow my business I want to do it in a better way that makes the client already feel invested with you.

    ​

    This method that I've been using the past 3 months has really helped me and I know it'll help you too. It's extremely time-consuming, but nothing comes easy in this life. You have to work hard to achieve what you want. If you really want it keeps working hard and make sure to go that extra mile because people will notice it.

    Video Audit & Website Audit:

    We started making video audits for businesses. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCnE68BNixw&feature=youtu.be (Actual Client) - Now this was just a fast quick video explaining a few things that I'll break down now. Don't bite my head off if I missed something. Improve on this video. There are always new ways of improving. Make sure these videos are only 2-4 minutes long.

    1. Not Secure (SSL) - Always point out that the Not Secure SSL is an important value which it is. This is a free fix with some hosting companies as they offer a free SSL with your hosting.
    2. Check for content/keywords
    3. I check surrounding areas for Search Engine Optimization
    4. Don't go into in-depth detail. You need to understand that the average business owner does not know what SEO is and will immediately click off if you start rambling. Explain SEO, but nothing in-depth
    5. https://www.seoptimer.com/ is where I create my fast reporting. Now I'm not affiliated with them in any way, and you need to know how to do a more in-depth audit before taking the easy route. This helps business owners see their small flaws. This will help fix their light SEO. (I wouldn't use this for advance SEO)
    6. Upload a video audit to YouTube and make sure it's unlisted.

    ​

    Make sure you do your research on the company. Check their social media accounts, try and find the business owner name and overall just go that extra mile. I normally get out anywhere from 5-10 videos a day (going to up this soon). It's hard work but I'm telling you if you separate yourself from all these other digital marketing companies that do nothing but cold call and cold email with a template you'll start to outshine them. Now obviously doing this and putting things together is a cold email, but I want to say that this cold email with the video audit and website audit feels more than that because you are actually taking the time to put this together. Business owners respect that. I'm sure they've been hit with the same old email template.

    ​

    Once you send this audit I would recommend a type of email tracker. I use Mixmax.com (not affiliated). This tool actually allows you to see when they opened it. This gives you an advantage and more confidence mentality because if they did open it you can always follow up with a phone call in a few days asking if they were able to review your email and ask them what they thought. I can't stress the importance of not trying to sell on the first conversation with the potential client. Set up a discovery meeting figure out exactly what they want and actually listen and then send them a proposal.

    ​

    Regardless for myself I usually follow up with a phone call or an email. I've been having tremendous success from this method. Now I'm not saying I'm the key holder on this method. I'm sure others have done this before but I haven't seen any posts about it. I hope this helps on your way.

    ​

    If any businesses want a free audit video along with an SEO audit I have ZERO issues doing this for you. I do them free (No I'm not trying to look for business) - I've done this in the past, and honestly, it helps me and my team get sharper with more. I refuse to give out my company name or posts any of our blogs - Just looking to help redditors.

    ​

    I wish you all the best. For all businesses out there: What are your methods in finding clients?

    ​

    -Joe

    submitted by /u/lopezomg
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    Just launched a free tool for bob hosts that aggregates all bookings from different platforms into one shareable calendar

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:08 PM PDT

    One year after my last post, I finally launched Hostic.co , a free tool for bnb hosts to help them manage their bookings.

    Hostic aggregates all bookings under one handy schedule that can be easily shared with the team. They can add notes and mark guests as checked in & out. Our bot sends notifications to the chat group and he will keep everyone updated.

    I would appreciate if you could have a look and give me some feedback 😁

    Thank you very much!

    submitted by /u/lopify
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    My business is failing and I don't know how to save it.

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 08:53 AM PDT

    So yeah I started selling vape products back in November 2018 via eBay and maybe I expanded too quickly but by February I had closed the eBay account down and opened a physical store.

    The store is profitable but so underwhelming it's barely worth the time I put in...i can cover over heads buy stock but there's is very little left over when all is said and done.

    We have huge trouble just getting people in the door, our location is good on a high street with other stores 2 major bus links right outside the door. Our prices are in average 20% cheaper than our nearest competition "over 10 miles away and selection of products is good.

    We are averaging about £2000 per month in takings currently but it's simply not enough. I've tried as much as I can to promote but here in the UK almost all forms of marketing are illegal. We launched our own brand of liquids to sell in the store, we use social media (to very little effect) we have a loyalty scheme in place we use email marketing once per month but that is the extent that we can legally achieve.

    Nothing seems to work and the last 3 days have almost broken me Saturday we took just £30 in 10 hours of being open yesterday zero and today zero.

    At this point I have nothing in any of my bank accounts no cash in the till and nothing to my name. Just what's on the shelves and my car and that's literally it now.

    I have literally no idea how to save this everything is there to say this should work but simply it doesn't.

    I have no idea what I'm looking for here, a miracle maybe but any words of advice would be a great help at this low time.

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/XX_TCG_XX
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    How do you go into a consultation knowing you will be subbing most of the job?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:14 PM PDT

    I just started a pressure washing business. It's going well for my first season. But I've started getting calls about staining decks. That is not something I want to get in to. It's messy. It is time consuming. And if not done correctly, can be costly to fix. Cost that I do not want to eat.

    I do however have a friend that paints and stains decks and fences. It's the perfect scenario.

    But, how do you enter into negotiations knowing you will be hiring half, or more, of the job out?

    Do I inform the customer?

    Do I include the partner contractor in the negotiation?

    Do I just get his estimate, then mark up and present to the customer?

    Or do I treat it as two jobs? I invoice for the cleaning and he invoices for the finishing?

    What kind of things do I need to be aware of on the business end?

    Thanks everyone.

    submitted by /u/c_h_u_c_k
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    Patents only allow you to sell your product. Not stop others from copying it.

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:42 AM PDT

    I was doing some patent searches and many of these patents are so similar. Someone can just do a small redesign, get a patent and can go to market with basically a knockoff of your product. The only thing I see a patent can do for you is assure you that you aren't infringing on someone else's patent. Other than that , if your design is the most practical one in terms of usage and production cost, I guess the knockoffs will be sightly more expensive or slightly more inconvenience to use.

    Patent 1

    Patent 2

    Patent 3

    Patent 4

    And there are many more in the citations.

    Am I correct in thinking this? Or am I missing something

    submitted by /u/jerichon
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    Advice on Real Estate Agent material

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:24 PM PDT

    I'd like some good reading material/podcasts etc to prepare for becoming a real estate agent. I know all of the negative about being an agent. I've read PLENTY about the negative. Now, I'd like to find something to help me succeed when faced with this negativity. I'm trying to avoid the millionaire real estate agent style books that blow smoke, and something study something that can actually help me prepare and succeed.

    submitted by /u/Jennings91
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    Has anyone tried out house call pro for there business? What did you think of it?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 11:17 AM PDT

    Manufacturer Help

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:33 PM PDT

    I'm looking to source a bluetooth speaker that pairs to an android app and plays a sound selected in the app when a button is pressed on the speaker. Is there anything specific I should look or ask for when searching for a manufacturer. Also has anyone used one for something similar in the past?

    submitted by /u/james0n
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    Airbnb floor plans - interesting niche idea

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:24 PM PDT

    https://www.floorplanagency.com/

    They make floor plans for your Airbnb listings.

    ​

    $49 / Floor Plan and they give you a jpg file.

    ​

    I looked at the whois record and it is protected, so not sure who is behind it. But interesting idea focusing on a very small niche.

    submitted by /u/JoshGreat
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    Got my first $250/mo client (Local lead generation) - Should I go all in?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:12 PM PDT

    I'll be the first to admit, I have diagnosed myself with shiny object syndrome. There are so many online business models out there, I always find myself jumping from one to another.

    But not too long ago, I ran across this Free EBook that presented a business model had me drooling for a second. What REALLY got my attention is that I would have all of the leverage when dealing with B2B clients. (Very rare, my fellow B2B people know how that is.) I decided to overcome my analysis-paralysis and just build my first rental property on Google.

    What it cost me:

    • WIX + Domain = $17
    • GMBverification = $65
    • CallRail = $30 (for 5 phone numbers, so I can build 4 more properties)
    • $35 for a basic SEO freelancer to do on-page tweaks for my site and clean up NAP citations.

    Basic Summary of the model:

    • Find a local service niche on google search such as "power washing miami"
    • Create a Google My Business listing + website for your 'business'
    • Rank your GMB and website via proper SEO, and begin getting calls from people searching "power washing miami" or "power washers near miami" etc...
    • Using a software like CallRail, just redirect incoming calls to a real local business, and brand that call with a custom whisper message which the business will hear before each customer gets put through (i.e: "Call from LilKrypto Leads")
    • Watch your Google listing become a valuable asset that gives you passive income from selling leads to local businesses.

    NOW WHAT...

    I may have gotten lucky with my first niche that I began 3 weeks ago, but I started getting 4 calls per week, and I quickly found a client to take my leads on (emergency plumber niche) for $250 per month. Before people say I could be charging more, realize I am completely hands off, takes no time from me, and I don't want to be greedy or be undercut by someone else doing the same thing. Plus, I could negotiate it later if I really wanted.

    I get too ambitious and optimistic when I get a small dose of success

    I have managed to contain my excitement, and have come to Reddit to ask for honest opinions on if this business model is worth investing more $$ into. I bet some of you have already heard of this model, but since its new to me , I want to see what people have to say about its longevity..

    My only worry is that GMB verification can maybe become harder and harder to get over time. Other than that, I am sold so far and want to continue investing in more lead gen properties.

    TLDR: I got my first paying client doing local lead gen, and I want others to critique the business model to see if it has longevity and is worth investing my time and money into.

    submitted by /u/LilKrypto
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    Would you hire someone for your company that claims that her/he is an entrepreneur?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:14 AM PDT

    Why yes or why not?

    ​

    I wouldn't, I know me, and I know I would leave the company if I struck a gold idea, or my sidebiz started growing.

    ​

    What about you?

    submitted by /u/rektgod
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    Looking for a quick way to offer Saas for a desktop application

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 11:33 AM PDT

    Hello everyone,

    ​

    We are a little company selling a desktop client application. We are looking for an easy way to package it and offer SaaS to our customer, maybe through virtualization desktop (a full windows session with our tools already installed in example).

    ​

    Basically :

    • The user go to our website, fill a form
    • He gains access to our tools, without having to install something on his computer
    • We need to be able to make him pay on usage

    ​

    Someone have an hint of a company offering already packaged offer to do this?

    ​

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/RedXIIICA
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    Is starting an online grocery business a bad idea because of potential competition from Amazon?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 02:34 PM PDT

    Does anyone have experience starting an online grocery business? I have ideas around a few niches that Amazon fails to work for and wondering if I should be worried about VC's having potential concerns around Amazon as a competitor.

    Similar companies like Brandless seem to be doing fairly well it looks like.

    submitted by /u/mikeyspikey123
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    The dilemma of finding free stock photos!!

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 02:21 PM PDT

    Searching for good stock photos can be a daunting process. I found about unsplash.com , but there seems to be a problem with it. I saved some photos off unsplash.com and went ahead trying to find the original source of these pictures... to my surprise, many of the pictures hosted on unsplash.com are also hosted on shutterstock.com , the latter website demands payment in order to be able to use/download the photo.

    ​

    So I am kinda confused now about whether unsplash.com is a safe source for free stock photos or not?

    ​

    What do you think?

    submitted by /u/medicalquestion101
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    Having a baby while running a growing company

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 10:27 AM PDT

    I'm 26 weeks pregnant and I own a clothing line with my mom. Our sales are good (sell to 500+ stores in the US) and we are growing consistently, but we are not in a place where we can afford to hire new employees yet. Right now it's really my mom and I doing everything. She works out of our warehouse and handles design and daily office operations (production, shipping out orders, etc). I handle sales, marketing, customer service, admin and accounting among other things and I work from home.

    I'm getting more and more worried about being able to dedicate time to my work while I'm adapting to life as a new mom, and I don't want to leave my mom hanging. To make matters more difficult, the baby is due during the start of our busiest season. My mom is being really supportive and reassuring and keeps telling me we will figure it out, but she is not tech-savvy so there's a lot of things I can't delegate to her. I wish I could train someone to take over for me for a month or so, but my responsibilities in the company are so diverse it would take a while to find/train someone, not to mention the added cost.

    I would love to hear from fellow entrepreneur moms. How did you handle this transition?

    submitted by /u/iswhatagirl
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    What is Fan Page Money Method About? – My Honest Review

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 02:12 PM PDT

    #Learn how to create your FB Fan Page and more.https://mymoneybizs.com/what-is-fan-page-money-method-about/

    submitted by /u/jan135
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    What skills should marketer command in order to get huge results?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:47 PM PDT

    I have a small business and would like to motivate and guide my team , who are marketers, to bring great results.

    submitted by /u/Passionate_dancer_
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    Could really use some advice for my news website

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:39 PM PDT

    I could really use some input on my current business.

    So a year or two ago, I started a student-led media outlet which now has over 50 contributors from nearly 25 different states. Many of our current members are dedicated to the organization, almost as much as I am, but I am struggling to figure out how to use their passion to help grow the organization. I am not looking to get rich from this. The goal is to provide as many young people as possible an opportunity to get involved in journalism. While I was in high school, and even now in college, I was/still am constantly rejected from organizations because of my age. Anyways, here is where I mainly need help.

    We aren't really making money from ads, and I am 100% opposed to paywalls. I think everyone should have access to news and opinion pieces. Developing revenue models is difficult, and I am having a difficult time coming up with creative ways to raise funds. We have a Patreon page, but converting readers to actual Patrons is hard—we only have 3 right now. But was also haven't been pushing it super hard aside from the Patreon buttons we have displayed throughout the website. Does anyone have ideas on how we can raise money based on our current site?

    Another thing I am trying to figure out is increasing organic traffic. Our Alexa rank has dropped from over 12 million to 1.4 right now since March 15, but I don't know how to go about increasing traffic from here. You can check out our website here: studentpost.org.

    Don't hold back from providing criticism/advice on aspects of the organization outside of what I mentioned above. I could seriously use some advice in all areas.

    submitted by /u/life_roll
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    Project management + Contact management combo that are well-integrated?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:36 PM PDT

    Hello, I am looking for an integrated project management + contact management tool to use in the software company.

    The ultimate goal is the maximum visibility of all the company activity, such as sales, product development, software development and fundraising. More specifically - a system where developers can set up projects with milestones (sprints) and tasks, see them as in the form of a Gantt chart, alongside the projects set up by product managers / marketing team. The suite should have a contact management system within it, so don't spread ourselves across multiple services. I am mentioning developers, PMs and marketing separately because some systems tend to be too focused on PM and some - on developers. It makes no sense for us to have neither "bugs" nor "stages"/"environments" nor "budget / cost" for every project - we just want to see the big / small picture layed out. We need a CRM component because without it, we realized, things get messy very quickly and we end up using Trello + whateverPMsoftware.

    ​

    We tried: Trello (no high-level overview no Gantt / no milestones without weird addons), Jetbrains' Youtrack (too dev-oriented), Wrike (too little features unless paying for higher tiers, no CRM at all), Todoist (too basic), Jira (too much for us and has really bad rep to the extent of people having "no Jira" in their job applications).

    ​

    We are leaning towards trying out Zoho, although after burning through a couple PM suites we are really tired of migrating projects over and over. It seems that our requirements are pretty simple and generic.

    Must have

    1) Projects with tasks

    2) Gantt chart view

    3) Milestones

    4) Scheduling / due dates

    5) CRM, even very basic with contacts / history of communication. Contacts in CRM should be (it's a "really nice to have", almost must have) connected to the projects.

    ​

    Nice to have

    1) APIs

    2) Integrations with Slack, Google Suite

    3) Export of everything in some way

    4) Inventory management (even very basic).

    ​

    We don't care about email scheduling (for sales), internal chat, cost tracking, time tracking (per-minute), extensive HR management system or gamification.

    ​

    If anyone has any recommendations or can comment on their Zoho experience in light of these requirements, they'd be really appreciated.

    submitted by /u/myreptilianbrain
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    Need advice on small-time food manufacturing.

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:02 PM PDT

    I'm in Toronto, for area context.

    There is an opportunity I'd love to pursue but I'm extremely amateur at this. I have ambitions, but no practical experience. Let's see what opinions/advice I can get. (Thanks, in advance)

    ​

    tl;dr: I need an inspected, ~500sq.ft. commercial kitchen to create, bottle and ship some oils and vinegars, for about 24 hours per month. (~5000 bottles) This is about all I know.

    ​

    I'm looking to rent or create a space for edible infused oil bottling. The catch is, I know nearly nothing about the process involved in small-scale commercial bottling. Nor have I any experience renting or renovating a commercial space.

    I will likely need the space, in actuality, about 24hrs/mo. Would I be better off renting a kitchen from someone? I've called some churches but they seem really reluctant to offer their space, and I'm atheist which may cause some consternation down the line. Where else can I look that may be willing to rent to a small-time bottler?

    ​

    I likely don't need refrigerated space, but I do need storage, and a loading dock would be a bonus. Is there an industrial space I can renovate to my needs, have inspected and all to my self or sublet to similar manufacturers? What would that be likely to cost? I honestly have no idea of the costs to install an industrial dishwasher/3-compartment sink, which is all I will likely need. I'm not even sure what a good rate is for kitchen rental. I've heard from $50 to $275/hr, which is a huge range for essentially the same service.

    ​

    I also don't drive, so I'm not going to be able to truck this shit around with me at all, or go to middle of nowhere places, or else I'd be looking at renting from a summer camp or retail-farm operations. I need to do this within city limits.

    ​

    I have most other aspects of this opportunity covered, but this kitchen situation has me in a bind. If I can secure or create a space that is cost-effective and has a bit of storage, I can take on a business opportunity that will add an extra 50k of income on top of my day job. I would really like to pursue this!

    ​

    So, I welcome all advice. Thanks again, if you've read this far.

    submitted by /u/-Greenlung
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    Easy tool for text replacement when cold calling?

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 01:01 PM PDT

    I have a script for cold calls where two phrases (which occur multiple times in the script) can change depending on the circumstances.

    Currently I just do a find replace all in MSWord before each call but this is getting old quick. Is there a better way in word or using another free (or cheap) program to make my life easier?

    submitted by /u/scrlk990
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    $10k/month with a podcast production service.

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 09:15 AM PDT

    Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.

    Today's interview is with Jeremy Enns of Counterweight Creative, a company that offers podcast production and strategy.

    Some stats:

    • Product: Podcast production and strategy.
    • Revenue/mo: $10,000
    • Started: April 2016
    • Location: Canada
    • Founders: 1
    • Employees: 0

    Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?

    Hey there! I'm Jeremy Enns, the founder and Storyteller In Chief at Counterweight Creative, a podcast production and strategy agency.

    We specialize in simplifying the process of producing a podcast for busy companies, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, working closely to guide and assist them during the launch and setup phase, and then taking on the bulk of the production work once the show is live.

    I started the company 3 years ago, in 2016 with one client, making $15/hour and have grown into a team of 10 contractors producing more than 30 shows per week with revenue of over $10K/mo.

    What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

    I went to school for audio engineering, initially wanting to produce records for bands and artists. After graduating in 2012, I interned at a big studio in my hometown of Vancouver, and while I learned a lot, I quickly realized that I didn't have the drive (or financial ability) to show up at the studio at 8am and work (for free) until 4am six or seven days a week for a year or more before moving up into a position that might pay $10/hr and actually start getting paid to work on music.

    After interning just a couple of days per week for over a year, while also working full-time at a retail job, I quit the internship and put my dreams of working in the music industry behind me. I worked a number of manual labour jobs including landscape construction and maintenance, tree planting in northern Canada, and others before taking a year off to travel, bicycling across Europe, and backpacking through the Balkans, and Asia.

    When I came home in the fall of 2015, I went back to a landscaping job making $15/hr and soon after discovered podcasts as a way to make use of the hours spent at work, diving into shows like Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn among many others as I dove into learning about the world of online business.

    After a few months of learning and beginning to experiment with a few half baked business ideas, a friend of mine with a well-known podcast made an off-hand comment about his podcast editor and a switch clicked in my mind. I had spent the past six months or so listening to 50+ hours of podcast content per week, and with my background in audio engineering I had more than the necessary technical knowledge to produce high quality podcasts for others.

    I went home that night, started a profile on UpWork, got my first client three days later, and within six months had quit my landscaping job and was working for myself full time as a podcast producer.

    Take us through the process of producing your first podcast and launching the business.

    When I first started, I catered my services heavily to my client's needs and what they were asking for. While this was a great way to get clients early on, I soon realized that by creating set production and launch packages, I could charge more, and do more to ensure the success of the podcasters I worked with, as there were often crucial steps that they were overlooking when producing and launching their shows on their own.

    Most of the people we work with have zero experience working with audio, and many have limited experience with online marketing and content production of any sort. One of the ways we've been able to justify raising rates while also helping our clients get better results has been by incorporating a lot of education into our onboarding processes.

    Many clients come to us thinking all they need is the post production aspect of what we do. The problem is that without understanding how to capture great sounding audio at the source, conduct engaging interviews, structure their overall content plans, and introduce their listeners into a funnel, they're not going to get the results they really want from the podcast. Expanding my initial services into this educational side of things was a big turning point early on that established me in many client's eyes as a podcast expert rather than simply an audio editor.

    I also shifted from a per-episode billing model to a monthly "subscription" (of sorts) model. In the early days, I was charging as little as $30/ep, which often would take me 2+ hours to complete. Since I had a full-time job at the time and wasn't chasing every single client however, I was fairly aggressive with my rate raises, upping my prices by $5/ep with every new client I got.

    The monthly subscription helped keep my clients accountable to getting me and my team the materials we need to produce their shows on time, keeps them consistently putting out episodes which helps them grow their shows, and allows us to reliably predict our monthly revenues and expenses. But there were issues with how I initially set those monthly fees.

    After switching to the package pricing 6-12 months into the business, I was making a better hourly rate, but I was still shooting in the dark when it came to how I had set my prices. I made rough calculations based on how long I figured the tasks included in the packages would take me, but had nothing to really back them up.

    It wasn't until 2 years in that I read a book called Profit First and really understood how I should be approaching pricing. To that point, I had a ton of overhead that I wasn't accounting for when I was determining my pricing structure.

    I had been in decent shape when it was just me, but as I started adding members to my team and outsourcing a lot of the work I had personally been doing, I realized that my current pricing was unsustainable as I transitioned from freelancer to agency.

    I started tracking my expenses in much greater depth and basing all pricing by shooting for a minimum 40% profit margin over my costs - which included the costs associated with my own time spent working on any project. Setting prices this way rather than going with my gut has sped up the proposal process, reduced my own stress, and allows me to be confident that we're profitable on every project we take on.

    When it came to start up costs, there were almost zero. I already had the business registered and a website set up for my music production business which I then re-focussed on podcast clients. I owned all the software I needed, and did zero advertising, relying on free platforms like UpWork at the start and word of mouth as we grew.

    I didn't have an official launch for the business, initially applying for freelance job postings and doing cold outreach to potential clients, which grew into a referral-driven business.

    For the first year I had almost zero online presence, just a simple one-page website outlining the brand story and the services I offered.

    One of the things I had learned during my cold outreach and freelance marketplace application phase was that personality was incredibly important, and that clients would pay a premium to work with people they felt like they connected with on a personal level. So with that in mind, I injected as much personality into my website copy as possible, making jokes, and writing in a style that would appeal to the type of people that I actually wanted to work with.

    For a while, I opened all cold outreach emails with something along the lines of:

    "Ok, so here's the deal yo. My name is Jeremy and I guess you could say I'm a bit like a zombie, except instead of brains, I have an insatiable urge to devour audio and spit it out the other side all clean and spiffy! BTW audio is way tastier than brains, not that I know what brains taste like..."

    Our personality driven copy on our website as well as on all our marketing channels does a good job of pre-screening people, so that often before we even talk over a video call with a potential client, we're both feeling really good about the prospect of working together.

    A year into the business I began writing a weekly blog covering podcasting topics that I didn't feel were getting covered elsewhere. Things like how to improve your podcast by using the principles of storytelling (specifically as they're used in Star Wars of course. Yes, I'm a nerd…), what Oprah can teach us about podcasting and breaking down a client's podcast launch plan were topics I covered among many others. I also started a Facebook group, Cut The Bullshit Podcasting, which has grown into a thriving community of 1500 podcasters, and is often recognized as one of the top podcasting groups in terms of usefulness and the positive, supportive vibe of the community.

    Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

    Since about the one year anniversary mark of the business, our client-base has grown almost entirely through referrals, of which we have a consistent stream. I attribute this to being picky about working only with clients who we absolutely know are a good fit for us, who know we'll be able to get results for.

    Like most freelancers and business owners, when starting out, there had been clients who I had misgivings about from the start, but decided to work with anyways. While I never had a truly horrible client who refused to pay or tried to scam me in some other way, there were definitely clients that caused more headaches and frustration than they were worth. The problem with a subscription service like ours is that there's no natural end to the project, and difficult clients could end up being thorns in our side indefinitely.

    After working with a few of these types of clients I knew I needed to do a better job filtering problem clients out before beginning to work with them. I examined the clients who caused us the fewest problems and who were the most fun to work with and started noting the attributes that made the relationship work.

    Generally we had similar approaches to business, believed in having fun with what we did, surrounding ourselves with positive people, and believed that the work we did mattered to the world. Our prices at this point filtered out most people who were just taking their first steps into the world of online business, but nevertheless I made a point of only working with people who had experience running online businesses, creating content, and had the systems and support team to be consistent with the production schedule. Maybe most importantly of all, our clients are clear on why they're doing their podcasts, what makes their shows unique, and who their audiences are.

    On top of working with clients who are a good fit, I'm a big believer in the value of providing a high personal touch. That involves regular hand-written notes, individualized gifts to commemorate milestones and a very generous referral program of a free month at their current production package for every referral who signs up and sticks with us for 3 months.

    To encourage referrals, we share the details with all new clients during the onboarding phase and make sure to remind them about the program as part of our bi-annual customer satisfaction surveys.

    One of the results of being extremely selective about the people we take on as clients is that often, the people in their networks are also a really good fit for us as well. We have some clients who've referred so many clients to us that we haven't billed them in more than 6 months, saving them thousands of dollars over that time.

    How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

    In the past 18 months we've grown from just me to a team of 13. In addition to myself, our team consists of six audio editors, four writers, and two admin people, all of whom are currently contractors scattered across Canada, The US, and The UK, who work remotely, although I'm guessing a couple of those may be converting into part-time positions within the coming year as we continue to expand both our client base and our team.

    As with our clients, I'm incredibly picky with who joins the team. I'm a believer that skills can be taught, but culture fit can't be, and as a result, my first concern when bringing anyone on is ensuring they're a good fit for our team and our clients. Almost everyone on the team has been referred to me by existing team members or people in my network who are familiar with the work we do and our team's culture.

    I'm also a believer that my first responsibility is to my team, and then to our clients, and that a happy, cohesive team provides better results for our clients. I know a lot of similar agencies hire almost exclusively overseas as a way to reduce costs. While this is appealing financially, I've always had a gut feeling that in the long-run, there are intangible factors that come with building a cohesive team with a strong internal culture who are all based in the same geographic region as the bulk of our clients.

    Financially, over the past year, we've tripled our revenue, and are looking to continue or exceed that rate of growth this year as we continue taking on new production and consulting clients.

    Our profit margin is consistently between 30-40% across the services we offer, with an average customer value of $750/mo on an ongoing subscription basis.

    The biggest focuses over the coming year are first and foremost to systematize the production side of things to a greater extent than they already are so I can remove myself from the day to day operations of production and work one-on-one as a consultant with high-level clients looking to start and grow podcasts.

    Secondly, we're looking to expand into digital products, packaging the knowledge and processes we use everyday with our clients to help beginner, indie, and hobby podcasters produce and grow their shows more efficiently and effectively.

    We're also really excited about The Podcast Power Pack, an annual bundle sale to help podcasters produce, promote, monetize and systematize their shows. The first Power Pack sale wrapped up in March and we're looking forward to bringing together and offering a whole new suite of products for next year's sale!

    Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

    I've always been a big believer in the importance of continual learning and education, and starting this business has definitely reinforced that belief. At the same time, there came a point - for me about a year ago - where I realized I needed to tone down my content intake and instead focus on executing what I already knew I needed to do.

    One of the other big lessons or takeaways from starting my business has been that I have the ability and perhaps even responsibility to be a leader in other aspects of my life, including my general community. So many of the skills that are crucial to starting and growing a business can be used to help improve the lives of everyone around us. Often all it takes is to take the lead and get the ball rolling on some initiative and others will take it and run with it from there. I'm looking forward to stepping into this role more frequently and with more intention in the coming years.

    When it comes to challenges, one of the things that has been difficult but necessary for me has been taking full responsibility for products or client services that fell short of expectations, either my own, or my customers and clients. While in many cases there may be extenuating circumstances, in almost every case where things have failed to meet expectations, I've been able to look back and point to areas where I could've personally done more to improve the outcome of the project.

    One of the biggest mistakes I made was taking my foot off the gas and simply coasting after things had been going really well through the first 18 months of the business. There was a stretch of time where I lost a couple of clients and realized that I was not in nearly as comfortable a position financially as I thought I had been.

    While this was a stressful few months, it was a necessary lesson and forced me to re-examine everything about my business and marketing, and led to a more diversified set of services, and a stronger focus on improving my lead pipeline.

    What platform/tools do you use for your business?

    The list of tools for the production agency side of things is fairly concise. We share files between our team as well as with our clients through Google Drive, communicate through Slack, and use Trello for project management, although we're looking to move over to Teamwork in the near future for a better dashboard.

    For online marketing we use ConvertKit and LeadPages regularly, and have our podcast community on Facebook. I'm also a big fan of Typeform for surveying clients, customers, our audience, team, and much more. I'm basically a survey nerd and would create them all day if I could...

    What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

    I'm a big reader and podcast listener, so it's hard to pick specifics, but I'll give it a shot.

    In terms of books, Profit First was a book that really changed the way I approached the finances and profit margins of the business, including how I was billing clients. Built To Sell was another book that, after reading, completely changed my mindset and approach to the way I was building my business and instilled a passion for systematizing everything that we do. Lastly, as a creative, both Big Magic* and *The War of Art were really influential books for me in terms of understanding what it takes to be successful as a creative in business.

    When it comes to podcasts, I've listened to hundreds of different shows over the past few years, but some of my favourites, include Smart Passive Income from Pat Flynn and Akimbo by Seth Godin. I'm someone who takes inspiration from a lot of places, and so while not specifically business related, I really enjoy 99% Invisible, Stuff You Should Know, and Revisionist History.

    Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

    When it comes to getting started, I'm a big believer in moving slowly but intentionally. I waited to quit my day job until I was making just as much from my freelance podcast production work as I was from my paycheck. One of the most common mistakes I see is people quitting their stable jobs and going all-in on an idea that they're excited about but is unproven.

    Without the pressure of needing to earn a paycheck from your new venture you're able to build things the right way from the start, be picky about your timing, pricing and clients, plus you've got a steady source of income which you can invest into your growing business.

    I also think it's important to know what you want from your business from the start. For me, I knew I didn't want to be doing the actual production work forever, and so I made a point of documenting the various aspects of what I was doing from the beginning so that it was easier to begin shifting those tasks off of myself when the time came, and could be sure that they would be done well.

    I've seen a lot of people work themselves into businesses that they don't actually like, simply because they didn't start with a clear vision of how their business would fit into the broader context of their lives, and how they would fit into their businesses.

    Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

    We're always looking to connect with audio editors who use Pro Tools and have worked on podcasts before, as well as writers for writing up show notes/blog posts for the shows to work as contractors.

    We also may be looking for a dedicated Operations person in the near future. If you fall into one of these categories, we'd love to chat!

    Where can we go to learn more?

    If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!

    Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.

    Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

    submitted by /u/youngrichntasteless
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    Digital Time Capsule

    Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:41 PM PDT

    Hey r/Entrepreneur my name is Griffin and I am the founder of Wonder Capsule, the first digital time capsule to be launched into the depths of the Mariana Trench. I've been a pretty long time lurker on this subreddit on another account but I decided to post my journey here as a way to document the progression of my company. I hope that my posts offer some insight that can add value to others journey as an entrepreneur.

    Wonder Capsule is a digital time capsule that aims to collect and preserve the works of people all around the world. By uploading your creative works to the Wonder Capsule, you will not only be making but preserving your mark on history in the hopes that generations to come will one day be able to enjoy what you have created.

    At the moment, we are in an early access phase as a way to attract people to uploading their works to the capsule for free. By signing up for the early access online, not only will users be able to upload for free but they will have access to the live stream to the launch event. We also plan giving the opportunity to some of the early access users to share their content with community.

    There are about 200 early access users who have signed up to upload their works to the capsule. I am hoping to have about 2000 users in total before the end of the early access period and about 10000 individual uploads in total. So far, this has been through a lot of word of mouth as I am good friends with some designers who are relatively well connected in the design world and they have been talking to their friends about it. The feedback so far has been pretty good and people are pretty excited to get the chance to have their art/music/photos, exc. stored in a way that it might resurface and people hundreds of years from now can experience the creative works of people from 2019.

    Currently, I am working just about every aspect that will be needed to launch this project. I am getting the Social media ready and already have gotten some early submitters to have their works featured on the social media pages. I am also working with an Israeli designer for the prototype of the capsule so that it can withstand the crushing pressure of the sea floor.

    I am super early into getting everything ready and look forward to having much more detailed posts related to the various topics surrounding this project such as financing, logistics, and execution. I hope that I am able to offer some good insights. Also, if you have any creative works yourself, I would love if you join our journey and make your mark on history! Go to https://www.wondercapsule.com/ and fill out the info for the early access. Once we are closer to launch, we will be sending out the access codes to upload your works! Let me know if you have any questions!

    submitted by /u/wondercapsule
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